A Guide to Exterior House Mold
The telltale signs of exterior house mold include fuzzy or powdery spots, usually brown, black or green in color, or less commonly in a range of purplish reds. Direct sunlight dries moisture, stopping mildew and weather damage in its tracks, so exterior house mold is most often found on the side of your home that receives the least sun exposure. For most homeowners, this means the northern side. If you see dark spots on an area of your home’s exterior that is more exposed to moisture than to light, you have probably discovered mold.
The Good News About Exterior House Mold
Although exterior house mold can be unsightly, it will not do more than cosmetic damage to your home. In fact, mold serves as a kind of alert system that will warn you about areas of your home’s exterior that may be vulnerable to more serious kinds of decay. Where moisture collects, mold will follow, and where mold thrives, rotting will soon occur, especially in vulnerable, porous materials like stucco and wood. By identifying exterior house mold and treating its causes, you can stop structural decay problems before they start.
What To Do If You Spot Mold
When you find exterior house mold, the first step is to thoroughly clean the area, killing the spores before they can reproduce and spread further. Head to your local hardware store and pick up a cleansing agent that combines peroxide, which will exterminate bacteria and spores, with a gentler detergent, which will attack the cosmetic blemish created by the mold. Once you’ve gotten rid of the mold that is present on your home today, start working on preventing the problem from recurring.
The Primary Causes Of, And Solutions To, Exterior Mold
Mold is a symptom of moisture permeating your home’s exterior that usually occurs when there is a combination of excessive wetness, and a vulnerable material, like unsealed or unpainted siding. Just as there are two causes of exterior house mold, there are two ways to prevent mold from growing. One way is to decrease the moisture in the area where mold is growing. The other is to give your home an added layer of protection against the wetness. By using a combination of these two techniques, you can stop exterior house mold from growing and spreading.
Reducing Moisture
Moisture builds up in areas where breezes don’t circulate easily, a problem that often occurs if you have landscaping like shrubs or vines close to the side of your house. To prevent outbreaks of exterior house mold, arrange your landscaping so that it won’t trap wetness on the sides of your home. If this doesn’t do the trick, consider adding a gutter or downspout above the problem area, or building a slight roof overhang to help shield the area from rain.
Increasing Protection
If your home’s siding is made of wood, stucco, or another porous material, it will absorb moisture from rain and dew, and where moisture lingers, mold often follows. Adding a layer of gloss or semi-gloss latex or oil based paint will repel water, keeping exterior house mold at bay. If you have wood siding and prefer the unpainted look of natural or stained wood, you can apply an invisible, water-repellent finish. The majority of water-repellent finishes also include a wood preservative, which makes them a great investment for any homeowner. With a water repellent finish, you will not only be saying goodbye to exterior house mold, you’ll be protecting your siding against other kinds of damage for years to come.
